Shower head with volume control and self-cleaning feature



J. FRASER IN VEN TOR. James Eraser nrmemzvs Filed Nov. 17, 1960 SHOWER HEAD WITH VOLUME CONTROL AND SELF-CLEANING FEATURE United States Patent 1 3,065,917 SHOWER HEAD WITH VOLUME CONTROL AND SELF-CLEANIN G FEATURE James Fraser, Wilmington, Del., assignor to Speakman Company, Wilmington, Del. Filed Nov. 17, 1960, Ser. No. 69,997 1 Claim. (Cl. 239460) The general object of the present invention is to provide an improved shower head of the type disclosed in Patent No. 2,534,549 of December 19, 1950. More specifically the object of the present invention is to provide a shower head of the above mentioned type which possesses the desirable operating characteristics of the shower head disclosed in and made under the above mentioned patent, but which is inherently capable of adjusting not only the volume of water, but of the type of discharge.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a shower head having plungers operating through a face plate in such a manner as to control the type of discharge from the shower head.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a shower head wherein the volume of water is controlled by means of a manually operated valve.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a means of controlling the type of discharge from the shower head and to control the volume of discharge from the shower head, both operating from the same manually operated means.

The various features of novelty which characterize this invention are pointed out with particularity in the claim annexed to and forming part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, however, its objects and advantages obtained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descrip tive matter in which have been illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the shower head embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the shower head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the line 33 of FIG. 1, showing the water inlet valve in the closed position.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing the water inlet valve in open position.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, horizontal, sectional View on the line 55 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view illustrating a modification of the shower head connection.

The improved shower head shown in the drawings comprises a hollow body or shell 10 of bell form, provided at its upper end with connecting means 11, of conventional form, for attaching to a source of water (not shown). This connecting means is of the usual ball socket type and is connected to the body 10 by means of the packing 12, held in place by the packing nut 13. This allows the adjustment of the body 10 with respect to the connecting means 11 so as to direct the stream of Water delivered by the shower head. The connecting means 11 has a shoulder 14 near the bottom thereof to retain and hold a How control device, which will deliver a constant volume of water, regardless of the pressure within a given length of time. This connecting means has a port 15 in the bottom thereof which opens into a chamber 16 within the body. This chamber is connected to the chamber 17 having a port 18 in the side thereof, admitting the water to the body of the shower head. A valve stem 19 is mounted in the side of the body 10 by means of the screw threads and is held in water-tight engagement with the body by means of the usual packing 21 and packing nut 22. This valve stem has a manually controllable handle 23 mounted on the outer end thereof. The inner end of the valve stem fits within the port 18 having a very slight clearance, and controls the flow of water through the port 18.

Mounted on the face of the valve stem is an eccentric boss 25 which is received by and held in operating engagement with a slidable sleeve 26 which is positioned about and maintained in alignment by the inner sleeve 27 which is secured into and retained by the valve body iii, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. This boss projects through an opening in the sleeve 27, and as pointed out above, is received by and operates sleeve 26, as shown in detail in FIGS. 5 and 6. The sleeve 26 has a yoke 28 on the bottom thereof, which yoke has slots 29 in the outer end thereof to receive and hold the plungers 30, 30, shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, which plungers are received by and held in engagement with the face plate 31, which face plate is fastened in the bottom opening of the bell body 10 and held in water-tight engagement therewith by means of the packing 32. This face plate is attached to a lug 33 fastened to the bottom of the sleeve 27. This lug receives the machine bolt 34 which passes through the center of the face plate 31 and is held in water-tight engagement therewith by means of the packing washer 35 which is covered by the ornamental plate 36. This bolt 34 thereby retains the face plate in a rigid connection with the body of the shower head. The plungers are adjustable with relation to their opening in the face plate by means of the sleeve 26, which is attached to and held by the eccentric boss 25.

An alternative means of attaching the shower head to the source of supply is shown in FIG. 7. The body 37 is rigidly connected to a connecting means 38 which is not adjustable and will deliver the water from the shower head only in a preset direction. This connecting means 38 is constructed with the same port in the bottom thereof, and, the same shoulder adjacent thereto, as shown in the connecting means 11.

In operation the shower head is assembled as shown in FIG. 3, with the valve stem 19 extended inwardly until the valve stem enters the port 18 and greatly restricts the flow of water admitted to the valve body, except the small amount of water admitted to the valve body by means of the drain hole 39. As the handle is rotated in a counterclockwise manner the screw threads 20 allow the valve stem to move outwardly and open the port 18 and allow the water to flow from the inlet through the port 15 into the chambers 16 and 17 and into the valve body proper, which water is discharged between the plungers 343 and the face plate 31 so as to produce a shower. The volume of this water is, of course, controlled by the opening between the valve stem 24 and the port 18. The position of the plungers, which is controlled by the position of the boss 25 controls the amount of opening between the face plate 31 and the plungers 39. On one revolution of the handle 23 the plungers 33 are moved through a complete cycle from their most extended to their most restricted position, and due to the fact that the threads 2%) have a very small pitch, one revolution of the valve stem opens the valve a comparatively small distance.

It is therefore possible to rotate the handle 23 until the desired volume of water is admitted to the valve body and then by adjusting the same handle through only a part of a complete revolution to adjust the position of the plungers within the face plate 31. The maximum amount of water that may be obtained upon completely opening the valve is limited by the flow control device, which is positioned in the connecting means, said flow control device not being shown. This allows control of both the volume and the positioning of the plungers by means of one single control means and does not require the adjustment of the fiow by means of a wall valve, usually associated with a shower, which valve need only be used for the purpose of completely shuting off the Water from the shower head.

The plungers 30 are movable with relation to the face plate 31 and when so moved they remove any deposit that has a tendency to adhere to either the plungers or the side walls in the opening of the face plate. There is a tendency on the part of most shower head users to set the plungers in one position and not to rotate the handle to move the plunger. This allows the accumulation of the deposit. The present device overcomes this objection by combining the volume control with the plunger control, requiring that the plungers be moved many times in adjusting the volume of water admitted to the shower head. This will keep the plungers free of deposit and prevent the accumulation thereof.

While in accordance with the provisions of the statute, there has been illustrated and described, the best form of embodiment of this invention now known, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes may be made in the form of the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of this invention, as set forth in the appended claim, and that in some cases certain features may be used to advantage without a corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

A shower head comprising a hollow body with an opening at one end, said opening being normally closed by a face plate having a series of openings therein, each opening in the face plate receiving a plunger, said plungers being held in a sliding engagement with a yoke, said yoke being adjustable with relation to the face plate to vary the type of shower produced, a sleeve retained within the body and attached to the yoke, and a valve stem mounted in the side of the body and having an eccentric boss on the end thereof to receive and adjust said sleeve through all positions during each revolution of said stem, said valve stem fitting within a port of entry for water into the hollow body and forming a valve therewith to adjust the flow of water into the body, said valve stem being controlled by means of a screw thread, the pitch of said thread being just sufficient to allow a small opening of the valve with each revolution.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,448,792 Fraser Sept. 7, 1948 2,790,677 'Filliung Apr. 30, 1957 2,888,210 McLean May 26, 1959 2,949,242 Blumberg et a1 Aug. 16, 1960 

